The Tuck Shop Opens

The Tuck Shop has opened in the Bourke Street 'food precinct', beckoning workers from the surrounding buildings at lunch hour.

Photography: Aaron Fong

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Photography: Aaron Fong

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Photography: Aaron Fong

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Published on 24 November 2010

by Hilary McNevin

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The Tuck Shop opened on Monday, in the foyer of the NAB building at 500 Bourke St in the city. It may sound very corporate but here sits an ideal juxtaposition for both the shop and the bank. The name Tuck Shop engenders, for many of us, ideas of comfort food at school lunchtime and experienced owners Ethan Chaikijkosi, Emily Lam, Damon Thompson and Salvatore Malatesta have taken that instinctive idea within us and made it grown-up with a menu based on good coffee (Malatesta is the name behind St Ali, Cafe Racer, OutPost and Sensory Lab where Tuckshop sources their beans) and a selection of dishes by Thompson built around quality produce where provenance plays a part as well as the idea of ‘super’ foods.

There’s a Super Salads menu with dishes like smoked trout, chickpea sprouts, edamame, black eyed beans and wakame or free range chicken mixed with bush tomatoes, cucumber, quinoa and pomegranate seeds as well as meaty sustenance in a hot dog filled with sausages made just for The Tuckshop by butcher Rob Williams and housemade tomato sauce. This is a smart, relevant, contemporary cafe and the feeling at The Tuckshop is one of experience. They’ve set themselves up in a space that beckons to the 4000 employees in the building above and the countless others surrounding them. Keep an eye on this precinct in the city - it’s a stone’s throw from Movida Aqui and Earl Canteen.